The BBC said Sara Cox – who many had tipped to be Evans’s replacement – would be her stand-in when she is away, for 10 weeks each year.

The new host of Ball’s current Saturday afternoon show on Radio 2 will be announced in due course.

Bob Shennan, the BBC’s director of radio and music, said hosting the Radio 2 Breakfast Show was “arguably the most coveted job in UK radio”.

“I’m thrilled that the baton is now passing to Zoe, who I know will make the show her very own,” the former Radio 2 controller said in a statement.

Ball’s appointment means that four of the BBC’s six music radio stations will have a female breakfast show host in the new year – with Ball on Radio 2, Lauren Laverne on 6 Music, Harpz Kuzar on Asian Network and A,Dot on 1Xtra.

The star’s appointment was welcomed on social media, with Twitter user Sara Millburn saying it was “fab news“.